Students get idea of what's in store

Nov. 20--SAN ANGELO, Texas -- Life after high school can be a rough transition for special-needs students -- Barby Nobles knows.

Her son Chase has cerebral palsy and found the road to postgraduate employment to be arduous. With a lack of notches on his résumé, employers were hesitant to give him a look, adding to the Nobles family's frustrations and disappointment.

"I was in tears all the time, disgusted with myself because I didn't help him plan better," said Nobles, director of family support services with West Texas Rehabilitation Center. "It was heartbreaking because I knew he wanted to be productive and I just couldn't get him there. I just didn't know what to do.

"I don't want any parents floundering out there because they don't have a plan."

Concho Valley students with learning disabilities, vision and hearing impairments -- as well as migrant students -- spent Wednesday at Angelo State University, touring the campus while reading up on options available to them in education, employment and independent living.

College and Career Transition Day, put on by Education Service Center Region 15 and the Concho Valley Alliance for Transition, drew about 250 special-needs students, most 16 and older, and their parents.

Core employers -- hospitals, nursing homes, the food service industry and hotels -- are viable options for special-needs students coming out of high school, said Dennis Friedrich, transition coordinator for the Small Schools Co-Op. First, those students must decide whether to seek postsecondary education, be it vocational school, four-year degree or a certificate, he said.

The hope is that something will ignite the spark and get the students on track to where they want to go, Friedrich said.

"I just want everyone to be the citizen they can be, gain whatever independence is possible and live a life that is very fulfilling," Friedrich said.

Local agencies and employers, including Goodfellow Air Force Base, the Department of Public Safety, Sam's Club, H-E-B, Texas Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services and Workforce Solutions of the Concho Valley, were among the organizations on hand.

Between tours and mingling with potential employers, Kelli Hanna talked the students through handshakes and greetings, attempting to ease the tension of branching out in a room full of strangers.

The kids must actively participate and properly introduce themselves -- ask what people do, how they can provide services, and what resources they have available -- to make the most of the transition fair, said Hanna, a teacher and counselor at Fairview School near Wall, which serves about 50 special-needs students from 13 area towns.

"They can walk around and blend in and no one is ever going to know the difference, but they're also not going to get anything out of the day," Hanna said.

Nobles led an information session after lunch to help parents weather the post-grad storm with their children. She encouraged them to speak with anyone -- parents, employers, organizations -- to prepare.

Volunteer gigs and a secondary education helped her son Chase land steady employment at The Wharf restaurant. Finding the right path for each student is difficult and takes much information gathering, she said.

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